Lehigh English Department Graduate Student Blog

All posts filed under: Literature & Social Justice

As the fall semester comes to a close we want to take a moment to introduce you to masters student Brian Reese. Mareesa Miles: Hello Brian! Tell us about yourself! Brian Reese: I am a first-year MA student and a teaching fellow. I have strayed down many paths in my life until now. I slaved in restaurant kitchens for many years, worked as a silkscreen printer, a house painter, research assistant and data librarian, actor, […]

(The first two paragraphs of this post are adapted from a Facebook post I made yesterday) Yesterday, in the wake of the US election, Lehigh faculty, staff, and students came together to hold a silent Rally for Inclusion. The idea was to demonstrate the diversity of people who work together on the campus and make Lehigh (and the country) what it is. While it is not yet clear what Donald Trump will do as president because […]

On November third Doris Sommer visited Lehigh, speaking to a crowd of educators: librarians, teachers, professors, administrators, and students. Harvard professor and founder of Cultural Agents, Sommer believes in the power of public humanities to make change in the world. At a time when funding for the humanities is being cut across Universities and secondary education systems, Doris promotes beauty, pleasure and art as solutions to public problems. She speaks to me, a masters student […]

In a short two and a half weeks, Halloween will be upon us. More importantly, abstracts will be due for the third Literature and Social Justice Graduate Conference being held at Lehigh on March 10-11, 2017. Fear not: I’m here to tell you that submitting to the conference is much less bloodcurdling (and anxiety inducing) than it seems. Though I’m just starting my PhD here this fall, I’ve been a part of the LSJ conference since its […]

On behalf of the Lehigh University English Department and the conference committee, I’m thrilled to announce that our third annual Literature and Social Justice Graduate Conference will take place on March 10-11, 2017 in Bethlehem, PA! The theme for the conference is Borders and Violence, which we believe will foster exciting and productive conversations about timely issues. We encourage graduate students and independent scholars to check out the CFP and submit an abstract by October […]

On Monday, May 23, 2016 I was honored to deliver the 2016 Graduate Student Address at Lehigh’s 148th Commencement Ceremony. The subject of my talk was Purpose, Possibility, and Love. As I thought about what message I wanted to share with my fellow graduates and our families, I wondered about the other black women who walked this path before me. With the help of Professors Jenna Lay and Betsy Fifer, I was able to piece […]

James McAdams: You mentioned in your March 4th keynote address to the 2nd annual Lehigh LSJ Conference a certain moment in time (circa 2004-2008) where social media and various open access publishing platforms manifested a “technoutopianism” where the spirit of sharing, collaboration, and community was, in fact, “real,” before being co-opted by economic forces, trolls, ads, etc. Could you mention an example or two of inspirational Public Humanities (PH) or Digital Humanities (DH) work during […]

Our second annual Literature and Social Justice Graduate Conference has come to a close! I know I found the presentations and conversations on the public humanities inspiring and exciting. As I reflect on my experience at the conference, three ideas stand out: 1. There are many, distinctive publics. There is a tendency in academia, I think, to view the public as a homogenous hyperactive mass that thinks in tweets and memes, and fails to appreciate […]

Well, another week is wrapping up at Lehigh—one step closer to Spring Break, another to the end of term. As you plan for the weekend, (which includes some time for relaxation, right?) you might be looking for something completely different from your standard two-day routine. I know I am—seriously, there is only so much Netflix that I can handle on a given day without feeling that terrible mixture of self-loathing and pure time-wasting joy. Thankfully, […]

On March 4 and 5, the 2nd annual Literature and Social Justice Graduate Conference will bring together students from both within and outside of Lehigh, as well as Lehigh professors and professionals from the Lehigh Valley, to discuss the intersection of Literature, the Public Humanities, and Social Justice. Bringing a public humanities framework to the English department’s broader conversation about Literature and Social Justice is particularly exciting to me as a graduate student interested in how humanities […]